Condensed from a Church of Sweden pastor's 350 page manuscript on Pastor Olof Olsson and the USA Augustana Evangeical Lutheran Church,1860-1900.

Pastor Olof Olsson(1841-1900)- a former Church of Sweden pastor from Värmland -- Founder of Lindsborg in 1869 -andFounder of Lindsborg's Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethany Church on August 19, 1869 -The Way He Was

Permission granted by Alf Brorson, son of author Bror Carlsson,* a former pastor of the Church of Sweden, to share this enlightening story12.8.17. With great thanks to Mr. Brorson!!

My father, Bror Carlsson, was a pastor of the Church of Sweden. At the time of his death he left a manuscript dedicated to "the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church with Gradtitude and Respect." The manuscript entitled I Did Not See My Own contains 350 pages of typewritten material and deals with "The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church in the U.S. A. during the years 1860-1900 with particular attention to a Värmland native, the pioneer pastor, Olof Olsson."

My father had the opportunity to trace Olof Olsson's life both in Sweden and abroad. He had become interested, as a pastorial colleague expressed it with astonished reservations, in "the career of Pr. Olof Olsson, the remarkable pastor from Värmland."

My father finished his work on the manuscript on November 4, 1955, at the Jösse Ny parsonage, Värmland. After that, various circumstances prevented its final editing and publication. I have tried many years later to complete my father's work. I have retained the original design of the manuscript as nearly as possible but have condensed its contents.

As a result, I Did Not Seek My Own (In English as He Gave God Glory) has become the portrait of a genuine human being, Pr. Olof Olsson.

He could have been my father.

FOUR CHAPTERS TOTAL

First Two Chapters

Page 1A HUMBLE SERVANT OF THE LORD

Pages 2-19"GOD HAS SO CREATED A HUMAN BEING THAT NO TIES ARE STRONGER IN HIS HEART THAN THE TIES OF HOME"

Olof Olsson gave credit to the former kings of Sweden for an important role in the battle for God's word: "The Swedes must have God's word, otherwise they are lost."

"All true history must give recognition to old King Gösta, who with true Swedish honesty and sincerity respected the Scriptures and wished to establish and build a free and prosperous kingdom based on the solid and unshakeable foundation of God's word.

"Sweden held its greatest place in history when respect for the scriptures was shown by the monarch, namely under Gustaf Adolf whose whole life was directed by the word of God."

--Lectures and Addresses (The Swedish people's armor for the defence of the Gospel. Festival address given at Wahoo, Nebraska, February 25, 1893.

From page 16: On the Church of Sweden not accepting his resignation forcing Pastor Olsson to appeal to the King:

By December, 1868, Olof had decided to immigrate to America.

But under the leadership of Bishop Sundberg the Karlstad diocese decided not to accept Olof Olsson's resignation.

Olof did not give up. Just as the Apostle Paul appealed to Caesar, so Olof appealed to the King, who on February 19, 1869, granted his request for release from service within the Church of Sweden. The Karlstad diocese, therefore, was required to release Olof Olsson from his Eksharad's pastorate and did so on March 23 of the same year.

Olof's emigration was preceded by an exchange of letters to and from America. In a letter to T.N. Hasselquist, the first president of the Augustana Synod, Olof wrote: "Thank you for the kind letter which I received a long time ago. The reason I did not answer it sooner is that I was advised and warned on all sides not to journey to America.

It is not difficult to understand that I became indecisive as a result of these persistent warnings. I have, nevertheless, decided to come to you in the name of the Lord. I have recently sent my resignation from service in the diocese to the cathedral chapter.

In his desire to find meaning in all of life's changes Olof researched in many directions. There is no doubt that he was, from time to time, regarded with mistrust because of his openness to extensive study and research.

Olof professed to be "a Lutheran at heart" and his frequent references to Luther's "clear and consistent theological positons" confirms it. But he also confessed that "anyone who sincerely believes in Jesus as God's Son and the Savior of sinners is my brother and friend in Jesus Christ." He was always ready to extend the hand of friendship to a brother in the faith.

Olof was not a typical representative for a single interpretation. His thinking was not fenced in by "isms." Throughout his life he constantly sought to deepen his knowledge in relation to the position that "there is only one name and one proclamation and that is Christ."

But he thought on an idealistic level and consequently his thinking could constantly expose him to attack.

From page 37: On Pastor Olsson's thoughts on science:

God's Word was for Olof the highest and most unshakable of all truth. But he did not look upon Christianity as an exclusive educational system. He attempted to keep up with the science of his time insorfar as it was possible for him. "True faith stands in grateful union with true science and true art."

"No branch of knowledge has been so badly abused by its highest and most famous spoksmen as theology. In spite of these abuses, we do not reject the knowledge of God or the spirit of man.

"When will we be able to pay our debt of gratitude to natural sciences? The knowledge has grown and had changed our entire physical earthly life in an unbelievable manner. If many people abuse this knowledge so that they deny and ridicle the hope which makes human life worth living, we do not, therefor, reject the marvelous science, but we feel pity for its abusers."

-- To Rome and Home Again (1890)

CLOSING Pages 42-46

Beyond Pastor Olsson's and wife's Anna's graves, at the Moline, Illinois, Riverside Cemetery is the Mississippi River and Davenport, Iowa. Their graves are about 4 miles east from Augustana College and Theological Seminary in Rock Island, Illinois, where Pastor Olsson was the College's third president.

Source: 2010 photograph by Fran Cochran

Note: The Swedish stone house on Lydia's and Emil's Swedish Farmstead was almost identical to Pastor Olsson house as shown by his daughter's Anna's drawing.

Source: A Child of the Prairie by Anna Olsson

For more on the Swedish stone house go HERE to "Their 1873 Swede House" and scroll down to "Swedish Stone House Research" by Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg.